Korea’s stock market operator said Thursday it has signed a preliminary agreement with its Japanese counterpart to begin cross-trading of listed stocks as early as next year, a move that is expected to speed up trading time and lower costs for investors in both countries.

Through the deal, the Korea Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange will push for cross-trading between the bourses in addition to the listing of exchange-traded fund and derivatives products, the KRX said in a press conference.

A cross-trading system is expected to be set up by the end of next year, the bourse operator said, adding that regulatory approval is mandatory.

The KRX said the two bourses also started providing stock market data via their respective Web sites earlier in the day. The data is 20 minutes later than real-time information.

The agreement between two of Asia’s largest bourse operators comes alongside heightened competition and ongoing consolidation moves among global stock exchanges.

The KRX and the TSE, which share the same opening and closing hours, were the world’s sixth-and third-largest bourses in terms of trading volume as of the end of October. 

(Yonhap News)